man lives in a deep anguish for the simple reason that he has not the courage to merge with the whole he is afraid hence he creates all kinds of defenses barriers, walls he is afraid of losing his identity and that is the greatest fear in the world and just the opposite is the case with courage courage means readiness to lose one's identity
the moment you lose your identity all anguish, anxiety disappears then the whole takes over then you are just an organic part of the total the universal, the eternal
courage is needed and trust is needed
fear cannot trust, fear always doubts, is suspicious courage can trust, courage can risk courage can put all the doubts aside and the moment you put all the doubts aside and are ready to take the plunge into the whole silence starts showering on you
the most beautiful experience of life is silence falling like rainwater on you it cleanses you of all dust and dirt it is the only true baptism
silence makes you a shrine it creates a temple in the innermost core of your being without silence you have not even known your own source your own centre the noise keeps you occupied, the world is noisy and the mind which is a by-product of the same world is bound to be noisy if one wants to know silence and the taste of it then one has to go beyond the world and all its by-products then one has to search for the part in oneself which comes from the beyond it is there, it is your very soul a little bit of exploration is needed
sannyas is exploring one's own interiority and the moment you have found silence you have found the true temple the true church, the true synagogue all others are inventions of the crafty priests and it is only at the innermost core of your being's altar that godliness can be experienced you discover silence and godliness comes as a reward
on the surface there seems to be no connection between these two meanings coming with joy, and the outsider the foreigner, the stranger but there is a certain connection deep down the connection is that people are living in misery that is their way of life and whenever they see somebody rejoicing he is immediately mistrusted he is immediately mistrusted because he does not belong to the crowd he is an outsider, he is a stranger
the crowd lives in misery and only a few people up to now have been able. it is unfortunate, very sad but a fact and it cannot be denied -- very few people so few that they can be counted on fingers have lived in joy of course they were all thought of as strangers Jesus is crucified because of that strangeness buddha is stoned many attempts have been made to kill him for the simple reason that people cannot trust him he seems to be not part of them and the same has been true for others socrates, al hillaj mansoor, sarmad the people who have lived rejoicingly have been tortured by the masses killed by the masses hence the meaning between those two very different connotations coming with joy and a stranger and joy is everybody's birthright of course man is free not to choose it that's what millions of people have decided to do
the reason is they don't want to go against the crowd mind the crowd mind may create a thousand and one difficulties for them
a sannyasin is committed to be a stranger he is committed to be an outsider he has chosen consciously, i am going to live in joy and the only condition that is needed to fulfil it is silence if you become a little more silent more and more joy will arise out of you the moment you are totally silent an infinite explosion of joy happens
there is a space within you where all dualities disappear where light and darkness are no more separate but one where life and death are no more separate but one these things are separate in the mind, in the head the head lives in dualities the head functions like a prism if you pass a ray of light through the prism it divides it into seven colours that's how the rainbow is created the reverse of one colour just pure white but the prism dissects it, cuts it into seven parts the same is the way of the mind it cuts everything into love and hate misery and bliss, life and death, summer and winter and so on and so forth but when you go beyond the mind... and that's the place where silence is the moment you leave the mind behind those dualities start disappearing the rainbow becomes one colour just pure white
white is the colour of silence oneness is the nature of silence and once you have heard your own silence then there is no music compared to it no dance, no celebration which can even come close to it everything seems to be just ordinary compared to the inner silence
and the man who attains to that silence becomes the beloved of the universe that is the meaning of supriya supriya means the beloved
the only proof for god or godliness to be more exact is the experience of silence
a great philosopher, maulingaputta came to gautam the buddha and he asked, can you prove that god exists? buddha said, if you really want the proof are you ready to fulfil the conditions? maulingaputta said i am ready to fulfil any conditions but i want the proof buddha said, then do one thing: for two years just sit silently by my side no question no argumentation just be silent fall deeper and deeper into silence and when two years have passed i will enquire
two years passed and exactly the same day buddha asked maulingaputta do you need any proof now? and maulingaputta laughed, he said you have given the proof, i have experienced it silence is enough proof and there is no proof now i know why you have made this condition these two years of falling and falling into the abysmal silence it is no more a philosophical question now it has become an existential experience
my sannyasins have not to bother themselves with philosophical questions with theological arguments
my approach is existential be still and know because there is no other way to know
one of the most significant things o be remembered is never cultivate silence anything cultivated is always false
and we are trained to cultivate everything we are told to love as if one can manage to love as if it is one's question of willing as if it is nothing but putting more effort into it as if it is a kind of doing
we are told to be compassionate to be of service to others and all kinds of nonsense and because from the very beginning we are told we start trying the real never happens that way but we start creating the unreal
one can pretend to be loving one can pretend to be compassionate and one can pretend so long that one can forget completely that is it is a pretension and that is the most degrading experience in human life
my approach is never cultivate anything otherwise you will be moving in the dimension of the false discover your spontaneity and in that very discovery you will discover many things which you were not even dreaming of
because all that is really significant is part of your spontaneity the spontaneous person is loving not that he is trying to love; he is simply loving the spontaneous person is compassionate is kind, is just these are not qualities that he has cultivated not qualities that he has cultivated not qualities that he has disciplined himself to they are just flowers of his spontaneity roses on the bush of spontaneity and the way to discover your spontaneous nature is silence
create a distance between the noise of your head and your being move as far away from the head as possible the farther you are away from the head the better because from that extreme you will not be able to hear the noise of the head slowly slowly it will fade away in the distance the moment it takes away into the far distance you have discovered something
there is no interference the mind is no more poking its nose in and suddenly you become aware of your own intrinsic nature and with that is the beginning of miracles
but with me the immediate is the ultimate the immediate and the ultimate are not two different things with me the ultimate is not somewhere far away the ultimate is very close by in the very immediate it is present in the very immediate it is pulsating the immediate is the heartbeat of the ultimate
so when i say that silence is the ultimate goal avoid misunderstanding me i am saying that silence is the immediate way of living
live silently
people are living with such a fuss with so much noise unnecessary but they have become accustomed to it addicted to it unless they make much fuss and much noise they start feeling as if life is slipping out of their hands the more noise they make the more they seem to be alive they are not alive they are simply insane
because life happens only in deep silence
but this whole earth is a big madhouse politicians are making so much noise; they live on it the more you kick the dust the more you create clouds around you the bigger you are the more mischievous you are the more is the possibility that you will be remembered in history alexander, tamerlaine, genghis khan, nadir shah napoleon, adolf hitler, mussolini, stalin these are the people who fill the whole history of humanity the buddhas are not even to be found
in the footnotes because they never made any noise they lived silently, lived joyously and died silently and died joyously but they are the real people the very salt of the earth
remember: if one wants to b really alive and ecstatically alive then silence is the way the way and the goal both the means and the end both the immediate and the ultimate both
silence is not a word it is an experience it is not a doctrine, a dogma but a taste on the tongue something to be eaten, to be drunk, to be digested something that becomes part of your blood, bones and very marrow but people go on living with words the word becomes more important to them than the experience the word god seems to be more important than any experience of god the word love seems to be more important than any experience of love
my sannyasins have to be very aware of it don't be trapped into words because millions are trapped in words always go beyond the word into the experience unless you reach the experience you have not lived your life the way it should be lived intensely, passionately, totally
the worldly people are the most impotent people in the world they know all big words and the whole jargon they are great bullshitters they can go on and on talking about things they have not experienced at all beware of that trap, that trap is everywhere there are christian traps, hindu traps mohammedan traps traps are available in all sizes and shapes and unless one is very watchful one is going to be trapped somewhere but a simple awareness that the word is not the reality the word love is not love the word god is not god and the word fire is not fire only this much awareness is enough and then you will start searching for the experience and the experience is liberating the experience is enriching and silence is the greatest treasure
if you experience... it is the very kingdom of god
the noisy mind is never in a state of balance it is always swaying like a pendulum from left to right, from right to left it is never in any state it is always moving somewhere and there is one thing more to be remembered about the pendulum when it is going to the far right it is gaining momentum to go to the left it is getting ready to go to the left it is packing its suitcases on the surface it looks going to the right deep down its whole psychology is going towards the opposite it is always in a contradiction
mind is a contradiction, a continuous fight there is not even a single moment when the mind can be said to be in a state of balance it is not possible for the mind because to be in balance means not to be in the mind mind means imbalance if the pendulum stops in the middle
then the clock stops immediately the clock can continue only if the pendulum goes on moving
silence is the stopping of the pendulum and the moment your mind stops suddenly there is great balance and that balance is the truth of life and to live life out of that balance is beauty, grace
it is easily possible, very easily possible but the saints have been telling the whole world that it is very difficult they have been deceiving you for the simple reason that if it is very simple then their saintliness will not be of much value if it is available to all ordinary human beings then what is there special in being a saint? so they try to brag about it they go on putting it higher and higher beyond your reach somewhere there on the everest so that you cannot reach there so that they can claim only, we have reached the chosen few of god in fact the whole existence is divine there is nobody who is chosen
all are chosen or nobody is chosen
and to attain to silence and equilibrium is a very simple and natural phenomenon very ordinary it has to be brought to the notice of every human being that for centuries you have been deceived and fooled few egoists have been on a great ego trip holier-than-thou the messengers of god, the prophets of god the incarnations of god, these are the people who have reduced humanity into utter slavery
my effort here is to make you rejoice in your ordinariness to make you rejoice the way you are i am not interested in giving you any perfectionist goals my whole effort is to make you aware that whatsoever is needed is within your grasp that whatsoever is needed in a certain way existence has already provided for you
you just have to look within, search within find out a little, explore a little and you will find all that you had always wanted and you were feeling miserable because you were not getting it
you were looking in wrong directions and you are being led by wrong people egoists have dominated the spiritual scene for so long that it is time we should get rid of all kinds of egoists mahatmas, saints and all kinds of those spiritual buffoons we should be finished with them and we should declare the ordinary human being as the ultimate peak of divine expression
start moment-to-moment living silently and as you get attuned with silence... and it is as simple as learning to ride a bicycle as difficult and as simple when you try to ride on a bicycle for the first time it is really very difficult the very idea of sitting on two wheels makes one tremble inside one knows that one is bound to fall but just a few efforts maybe once or twice you will fall -- so what? one can again ride on the bicycle there is no problem in it once you have learned the knack surprised: it was so simple, it is just a knack those who know, know it is very simple those who don't know, they think it is very difficult
and the difference can be bridged very easily just by a few efforts
sannyas means making a few efforts for something which is absolutely needed without which we are not truly living without which we are not joyous without which we are not really rich without which the whole opportunity is going down the drain and just a few efforts and i have been teaching so many people to ride the bicycle yes, once in a while they fall but that fall is not bad; it teaches you the knack it is good, it is helpful
the only stupid people in the world are those who never try who remain closed and afraid, shrunken and the greatest fear that the so-called spiritual leaders of humanity have created is that of committing a mistake and anybody who wants to learn has to commit mistakes
so i tell my people commit as many mistakes as you can commit new mistakes every day invent new ones, find out new ones don't repeat the old and then learning begins and there is no end to learning a child forever and that is the true way of being a sage a child forever
Osho's Commentary
for the simple reason
that he has not the courage to merge with the whole
he is afraid
hence he creates all kinds of defenses
barriers, walls
he is afraid of losing his identity
and that is the greatest fear in the world
and just the opposite is the case with courage
courage means readiness to lose one's identity
the moment you lose your identity
all anguish, anxiety disappears
then the whole takes over
then you are just an organic part of the total
the universal, the eternal
courage is needed and trust is needed
fear cannot trust, fear always doubts, is suspicious
courage can trust, courage can risk
courage can put all the doubts aside
and the moment you put all the doubts aside
and are ready to take the plunge into the whole
silence starts showering on you
the most beautiful experience of life
is silence falling like rainwater on you
it cleanses you of all dust and dirt
it is the only true baptism
silence makes you a shrine
it creates a temple
in the innermost core of your being
without silence
you have not even known your own source
your own centre
the noise keeps you occupied, the world is noisy
and the mind
which is a by-product of the same world
is bound to be noisy
if one wants to know silence and the taste of it
then one has to go beyond the world
and all its by-products
then one has to search
for the part in oneself which comes from the beyond
it is there, it is your very soul
a little bit of exploration is needed
sannyas is exploring one's own interiority
and the moment you have found silence
you have found the true temple
the true church, the true synagogue
all others are inventions of the crafty priests
and it is only at the innermost core
of your being's altar
that godliness can be experienced
you discover silence
and godliness comes as a reward
on the surface there seems to be
no connection between these two meanings
coming with joy, and the outsider
the foreigner, the stranger
but there is a certain connection deep down
the connection is that people are living
in misery
that is their way of life
and whenever they see somebody rejoicing
he is immediately mistrusted
he is immediately mistrusted
because he does not belong to the crowd
he is an outsider, he is a stranger
the crowd lives in misery
and only a few people up to now have been able.
it is unfortunate, very sad but a fact
and it cannot be denied -- very few people
so few that they can be counted on fingers
have lived in joy
of course they were all thought of as strangers
Jesus is crucified because of that strangeness
buddha is stoned
many attempts have been made to kill him
for the simple reason that people cannot trust him
he seems to be not part of them
and the same has been true for others
socrates, al hillaj mansoor, sarmad
the people who have lived rejoicingly
have been tortured by the masses
killed by the masses
hence the meaning between those two
very different connotations
coming with joy and a stranger
and joy is everybody's birthright
of course man is free not to choose it
that's what millions of people have decided to do
the reason is
they don't want to go against the crowd mind
the crowd mind may create
a thousand and one difficulties for them
a sannyasin is committed to be a stranger
he is committed to be an outsider
he has chosen consciously, i am going to live in joy
and the only condition that is needed to fulfil it is
silence
if you become a little more silent
more and more joy will arise out of you
the moment you are totally silent
an infinite explosion of joy happens
there is a space within you
where all dualities disappear
where light and darkness are no more separate
but one
where life and death are no more separate
but one
these things are separate in the mind, in the head
the head lives in dualities
the head functions like a prism
if you pass a ray of light through the prism
it divides it into seven colours
that's how the rainbow is created
the reverse of one colour
just pure white
but the prism dissects it, cuts it into seven parts
the same is the way of the mind
it cuts everything into love and hate
misery and bliss, life and death, summer and winter
and so on and so forth
but when you go beyond the mind...
and that's the place where silence is
the moment you leave the mind behind
those dualities start disappearing
the rainbow becomes one colour
just pure white
white is the colour of silence
oneness is the nature of silence
and once you have heard your own silence
then there is no music compared to it
no dance, no celebration
which can even come close to it
everything seems to be just ordinary compared to
the inner silence
and the man who attains to that silence
becomes the beloved of the universe
that is the meaning of supriya
supriya means the beloved
the only proof for god or godliness to be more exact
is the experience of silence
a great philosopher, maulingaputta
came to gautam the buddha
and he asked, can you prove that god exists?
buddha said, if you really want the proof
are you ready to fulfil the conditions?
maulingaputta said
i am ready to fulfil any conditions
but i want the proof
buddha said, then do one thing:
for two years just sit silently by my side
no question
no argumentation
just be silent
fall deeper and deeper into silence
and when two years have passed
i will enquire
two years passed and exactly the same day
buddha asked maulingaputta
do you need any proof now?
and maulingaputta laughed, he said
you have given the proof, i have experienced it
silence is enough proof and there is no proof
now i know why you have made this condition
these two years of falling and falling
into the abysmal silence
it is no more a philosophical question
now it has become an existential experience
my sannyasins have not to bother themselves
with philosophical questions
with theological arguments
my approach is existential
be still and know
because there is no other way to know
one of the most significant things
o be remembered is
never cultivate silence
anything cultivated is always false
and we are trained to cultivate everything
we are told to love
as if one can manage to love
as if it is one's question of willing
as if it is nothing but putting more effort into it
as if it is a kind of doing
we are told to be compassionate
to be of service to others
and all kinds of nonsense
and because from the very beginning we are told
we start trying
the real never happens that way
but we start creating the unreal
one can pretend to be loving
one can pretend to be compassionate
and one can pretend so long that one can
forget completely that is it is a pretension
and that is the most degrading experience
in human life
my approach is
never cultivate anything
otherwise you will be moving
in the dimension of the false
discover your spontaneity
and in that very discovery you will discover
many things which you were not even dreaming of
because all that is really significant
is part of your spontaneity
the spontaneous person is loving
not that he is trying to love; he is simply loving
the spontaneous person is compassionate
is kind, is just
these are not qualities that he has cultivated
not qualities that he has cultivated
not qualities that he has disciplined himself to
they are just flowers of his spontaneity
roses on the bush of spontaneity
and the way to discover your spontaneous nature is
silence
create a distance
between the noise of your head and your being
move as far away from the head as possible
the farther you are away from the head the better
because from that extreme
you will not be able to hear the noise of the head
slowly slowly it will fade away in the distance
the moment it takes away into the far distance
you have discovered something
there is no interference
the mind is no more poking its nose in
and suddenly you become aware
of your own intrinsic nature
and with that is the beginning of miracles
but with me the immediate is the ultimate
the immediate and the ultimate
are not two different things with me
the ultimate is not somewhere far away
the ultimate is very close by
in the very immediate it is present
in the very immediate it is pulsating
the immediate is the heartbeat of the ultimate
so when i say that silence is the ultimate goal
avoid misunderstanding me
i am saying
that silence is the immediate way of living
live silently
people are living with such a fuss
with so much noise
unnecessary
but they have become accustomed to it
addicted to it
unless they make much fuss and much noise
they start feeling as if life is
slipping out of their hands
the more noise they make
the more they seem to be alive
they are not alive
they are simply insane
because life happens only in deep silence
but this whole earth is a big madhouse
politicians are making so much noise; they live on it
the more you kick the dust
the more you create clouds around you
the bigger you are
the more mischievous you are
the more is the possibility
that you will be remembered in history
alexander, tamerlaine, genghis khan, nadir shah
napoleon, adolf hitler, mussolini, stalin
these are the people
who fill the whole history of humanity
the buddhas are not even to be found
in the footnotes
because they never made any noise
they lived silently, lived joyously
and died silently and died joyously
but they are the real people
the very salt of the earth
remember: if one wants to b really alive
and ecstatically alive
then silence is the way
the way and the goal both
the means and the end both
the immediate and the ultimate both
silence is not a word
it is an experience
it is not a doctrine, a dogma
but a taste on the tongue
something to be eaten, to be drunk, to be digested
something that becomes part
of your blood, bones and very marrow
but people go on living with words
the word becomes more important to them
than the experience
the word god seems to be more important
than any experience of god
the word love seems to be more important
than any experience of love
my sannyasins have to be very aware of it
don't be trapped into words
because millions are trapped in words
always go beyond the word into the experience
unless you reach the experience
you have not lived your life the way it should be lived
intensely, passionately, totally
the worldly people
are the most impotent people in the world
they know all big words and the whole jargon
they are great bullshitters
they can go on and on talking about things
they have not experienced at all
beware of that trap, that trap is everywhere
there are christian traps, hindu traps
mohammedan traps
traps are available in all sizes and shapes
and unless one is very watchful
one is going to be trapped somewhere
but a simple awareness that
the word is not the reality
the word love is not love
the word god is not god
and the word fire is not fire
only this much awareness is enough
and then you will start searching for the experience
and the experience is liberating
the experience is enriching
and silence is the greatest treasure
if you experience...
it is the very kingdom of god
the noisy mind is never in a state of balance
it is always swaying like a pendulum
from left to right, from right to left
it is never in any state
it is always moving somewhere
and there is one thing more to be remembered
about the pendulum
when it is going to the far right
it is gaining momentum to go to the left
it is getting ready to go to the left
it is packing its suitcases
on the surface it looks going to the right
deep down its whole psychology
is going towards the opposite
it is always in a contradiction
mind is a contradiction, a continuous fight
there is not even a single moment
when the mind can be said to be
in a state of balance
it is not possible for the mind
because to be in balance
means not to be in the mind mind means imbalance
if the pendulum stops in the middle
then the clock stops immediately
the clock can continue
only if the pendulum goes on moving
silence is the stopping of the pendulum
and the moment your mind stops
suddenly there is great balance
and that balance is the truth of life
and to live life out of that balance
is beauty, grace
it is easily possible, very easily possible
but the saints have been telling
the whole world that it is very difficult
they have been deceiving you for the simple reason
that if it is very simple
then their saintliness will not be of much value
if it is available to all ordinary human beings
then what is there special in being a saint?
so they try to brag about it
they go on putting it higher and higher
beyond your reach
somewhere there on the everest
so that you cannot reach there
so that they can claim only, we have reached
the chosen few of god
in fact the whole existence is divine
there is nobody who is chosen
all are chosen or nobody is chosen
and to attain to silence and equilibrium
is a very simple and natural phenomenon
very ordinary
it has to be brought to the notice
of every human being
that for centuries you have been
deceived and fooled
few egoists have been on a great ego trip
holier-than-thou
the messengers of god, the prophets of god
the incarnations of god, these are the people
who have reduced humanity into utter slavery
my effort here is to make you rejoice
in your ordinariness
to make you rejoice the way you are
i am not interested
in giving you any perfectionist goals
my whole effort is to make you aware
that whatsoever is needed is within your grasp
that whatsoever is needed
in a certain way existence has already provided
for you
you just have to look within,
search within find out a little,
explore a little
and you will find all that you had always wanted
and you were feeling miserable
because you were not getting it
you were looking in wrong directions
and you are being led by wrong people
egoists have dominated the spiritual scene
for so long
that it is time we should get rid of all kinds of egoists
mahatmas, saints
and all kinds of those spiritual buffoons
we should be finished with them
and we should declare the ordinary human being
as the ultimate peak of divine expression
start
moment-to-moment
living silently
and as you get attuned with silence...
and it is as simple as learning to ride a bicycle
as difficult and as simple
when you try to ride on a bicycle for the first time
it is really very difficult
the very idea of sitting on two wheels
makes one tremble inside
one knows that one is bound to fall
but just a few efforts
maybe once or twice you will fall -- so what?
one can again ride on the bicycle
there is no problem in it
once you have learned the knack
surprised: it was so simple, it is just a knack
those who know, know it is very simple
those who don't know, they think it is very difficult
and the difference can be bridged very easily
just by a few efforts
sannyas means making a few efforts
for something which is absolutely needed
without which we are not truly living
without which we are not joyous
without which we are not really rich
without which the whole opportunity
is going down the drain
and just a few efforts
and i have been teaching so many people
to ride the bicycle
yes, once in a while they fall
but that fall is not bad; it teaches you the knack
it is good, it is helpful
the only stupid people in the world
are those who never try
who remain closed and afraid, shrunken
and the greatest fear
that the so-called spiritual leaders of humanity
have created is that of committing a mistake
and anybody who wants to learn
has to commit mistakes
so i tell my people
commit as many mistakes as you can
commit new mistakes every day
invent new ones, find out new ones
don't repeat the old
and then learning begins
and there is no end to learning
a child forever
and that is the true way of being a sage
a child forever